St. Bonaventure Bonnies
Atlantic 10 (22-8, 14-4)
Most expected this to be a good St. Bonaventure team that could hang around in the middle of the Atlantic 10. But the Bonnies had better plans and were right in the A-10 title hunt until the very end. The Bonnies stayed out of the spotlight for quite some time since they did not pick up a big nonconference win and lost to Syracuse, Hofstra and Siena. Losing to Hofstra and Siena is not as bad as it may sound, but those are games St. Bonaventure should be winning. But other than that and a three game stretch in A-10 play where they lost to Duquesne, Dayton and VCU, this has been a very solid team.
Big Wins: 2/3 at St. Joseph’s (83-73), 2/20 at Dayton (79-72), 3/2 St. Joseph’s (98-90)
Bad Losses: 12/22 at Siena (70-73), 1/16 at Duquesne (88-95), 2/17 at La Salle (64-71)
Coach: Mark Schmidt
Why They Can Surprise:
St. Bonaventure has three great scorers and that can be tough for any opponent to defend. Point guard Jaylen Adams has turned into one of the best players in the A-10 and is averaging 17.7 points, 5.0 assists and 1.3 steals. He is not simply a 6-1 point guard who attack the basket, but he can knock down three-pointers on a consistent basis. On the year, Adams has connected on 44.1 percent of his three-point attempts. Senior Marcus Posley will take even more three-pointers. He may not hit quite as many though. Posley, who averages 19.7 points per game, can also get to the basket and finish or even find an open teammate. With his senior leadership, Posley is the clutch guy who Coach Mark Schmidt wants to take the big shots. The force in the frontcourt is 6-7 senior Dion Wright. Wright is just behind Adams and Posley in the scoring column with 16.9 points per game and he easily leads the team with 9.0 rebounds per contest.
Why They Can Disappoint:
Statistically speaking, St. Bonaventure’s biggest problems are on the glass. Derrick Woods is a big 6-8, 220 pound forward, but he is just a freshman and still learning the ropes. Denzel Gregg, a 6-7 junior, has been more productive, averaging 9.3 points and 5.3 rebounds. He is also a pretty good shot blocker. That is true of freshman Jordan Tyson as well. He will not see many minutes, but he will still block a shot or two every game. If Woods and Tyson can start playing like sophomores in March instead of freshmen, St. Bonaventure has a deep enough team to win some games in the postseason. But in the end it will still come down to Adams, Posley and Wright playing as well as they have most of the season.
Probable Starters:
Jaylen Adams, Sophomore, Guard, 17.7 ppg, 5.0 apg, 3.7 rpg
Marcus Posley, Senior, Guard, 19.7 ppg, 3.6 apg, 3.4 rpg
Idris Taqqee, Sophomore, Guard, 5.0 ppg, 1.1 apg, 4.0 rpg
Dion Wright, Senior, Forward, 16.9 ppg, 9.0 rpg
Derrick Woods, Freshman, Forward, 3.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg
Key Roleplayers:
Denzel Gregg, Junior, Forward, 9.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.3 bpg
Nelson Kaputo, Freshman, Guard, 4.6 ppg, 1.9 apg
Jordan Tyson, Freshman, Forward, 2.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.1 bpg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 77.5 (73rd in nation, 4th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 72.2 (192, 9)
Field-Goal Percentage: 44.5 (157, 9)
Field-Goal Defense: 43.5 (177, 8)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 8.3 (64, 4)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.0 (37, 1)
Free-Throw Percentage: 77.7 (3, 1)
Rebound Margin: -1.0 (228, 9)
Assists Per Game: 13.6 (154, 10)
Turnovers Per Game: 11.7(73, 6)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2012 NCAA Second Round loss to Florida State
2011 CBI First Round loss to UCF
2002 NIT First round loss to Syracuse
2001 NIT First round loss to Pittsburgh
2000 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Kentucky
1998 NIT First round loss to Vanderbilt
*all team stats through 3/6
